“In those days, God delivered all these commandments.” (Exodus 20:1)

The major theme for this Third Sunday of Lent is on keeping our covenantal agreement with God by becoming people of the New Covenant, loving God above all and others as Jesus loves, keeping our parish Church and our body holy, fully dedicated to divine worship, maintaining our hearts clean, just, holy and pure as temples of the Holy Spirit.

The Church invites us to consider God’s commandments as His request and our agreement of a special and personal relationship with Him. God is the transcendent Creator of all, whose commandments are not burdensome that entrench us in a maze of moral gridlock. On the contrary, they are divine gifts of devout care and gracious guidance for us. The covenantal agreement or the commandments of God is always an order addressed by a person to a person to foster their mutual relationship.

In each of His commands, God’s loving will for us and humanity is spoken aloud. These special commandments are to form the basis of our behavior as God’s believers, followers and disciples. The practice of covenantal commandment deepens our prayer, moral, social and liturgical life, which are often used as the basic structure for our examination of conscience in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, invited to be practiced more frequently in our Lenten journey. In His commandments, God wants us to love Him above all else and love one another as ourselves. Only through obeying God’s loving commandments that we can be saved.

God does not want us holding a relationship of Transaction but Transformation. Therefore, Dynamic Christian disciples are those who (1) BELIEVE, (2) GROW, (3) SERVE, (4) LOVE and (5) LEAD others to Jesus. Today’s topic invites us to repent our sins, reflect on our vocation of dynamic Christian discipleship to live a holy life to fulfill God’s will and obtain our salvation.

How can we appreciate each other with dignity, respect, keep our body as Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Body of Christ?

Wishing everyone a blessed week in the Lord.